drron29

Back to the ship and I went up to deck 12 above the observation lounge for a bit of planespotting and enjoying the surrounds. Qatar came in quite low. They came in at 10 -15 minute intervals The sun was starting to set. just to the left of centre over the bridge you can see the landing lights for DPS. A little later the sunset became better.

Note the petrol bowsers. The bus stops were raised.

Time then to get on the bus and head back to the port.

Time for lunch. We decided to have lunch at the restaurant right beside the bus parking are. Only 1 other couple there. Simple food but tasty and cheap. no wine so Rojaan had a sprite and I a Bintang. Rojaan had chicken satays which were OK and I had spicy pork ribs which were nice. Total cost just under 140000 rupiah. $A10/$US9. The restaurant and the views from the back of the restaurant. Then a bit of a stroll around the buildings around the parking lot. Then took my life in my hands and crossed the road to a little temple. The road wasn't that busy just then.

Then a building I recognised. Same design but modernised. 40 years ago it was the public market and open air with iron roof. Wouldn't want this fellows job. Tried to find where we stayed. out of town not far from the market and overlooking rice paddies and the river. all gone and heavily developed now.

So we started our perambulation around Ubud. First the surrounds of the parking area. The footpaths were narrow and uneven. Often with cars or motor bikes parked on them so walking the main street was at times rather daunting. so we decided to go down a side street. But it began to go uphill and the number of cars pushing through increased so back to the main road.

We have booked our first 2026 cruise. got to be an optimist . n the Muse again - Mahe to Capetown. Now need to find me a leopard.

Temples and stone works everywhere. Very little undeveloped road frontage all the way to Ubud. Very different to 40 years ago. We arrive at the bus parking lot.

We had 44 days and weren't worried by the choices. you svee a lot of raw meat and fish in my pictures because that is what i like. We didn't go to Indochine a lot because there is a large percentage of spicy dishes. Rojaan does not do spice. If you like spice there is an immediate increase in your choices. And my major yardstick is does it taste nice and by that standard the majority of dishes passed the test. In particular the beef in Atlantide was up there with the best I have had. I was very pleased with it. But yes I was totally disappointed with the cheeses on offer. However we have never cruised Oceania, I don't think I have seen any pictures of their food so I can't comment on that. As to limited menus the Atlantide menu has 4 pages every night of which the first page changes each night. It does repeat dishes but not for at least for a week and then not every dish. was more than enough choice for us. Plus there is a much more extensive everday/room service menu and we sometimes substituted a dish from there. So if I didn't like the desserts I would order the creme brulee or the Eton mess from that menu.

@RetiredandTravel we are definitely satisfied withe food with the exceptions of the Osso Buco and La terraza in general. We have lived in Italian suburbs of Sydney when young and more recently I have worked in griffith, NSW which has a very large Italian population. The hospital has it's signs in English and Italian. As well s that several visits to Griffith when one of our best friends was Headmaster of the High school there. So we have had many meals wiith italian families and love the Nonnas cooking. So La terraza has never been one of our favourites. The Grill meals we thought had less quality than before as well as basically being too hot to eat there. And the other complaint is the repetious nature of the veggie accompaniments to the main meals in Atlantide. saying you didn't want them didn't work. they still appeared. As to service in general we felt it better than usual. After a while we always ate in Pablo's section of Atlantide. An exceptional talent who we praised in the assessments. However that meant on the last night of our cruise he had been promoted to La Dame. We also found the sommeliers were very good. And they did have qualifications.

No passengers but in Singapore there was a food court in the terminal and I did catch a crew member with a Macca's bag.

A welcoming party. We were now off on the Ubud on your own excursion. basically a shuttle bus to Ubud. Probably about 40 years since we had last been.

The next morning saw us steaming into Benoa, Bali.

Aussies would never put dangling corks on a cowboy hat.

Though on our Muse cruise in Atlantide the side of fries was as you said and truly pathetic but our waiter Pablo brought all the others to our table as a proper side dish. But I got thoroughly bored with the veggie accompaniments to virtually every main dish. I mused that in the Galley there was this large number of plates all loaded with veggies just waiting for whatever the main ingredient was to be placed beside them. SS please stop this.

With Avian flu present this is not going to change any time soon. maybe a Galapagos cruise is not a great idea for the next 1 - 2 years unless you do like snorkelling which is excellent there.

Australian men shouldn't wear cowboy hats. They should wear Akubras. And if from the land the older and more battered the better. That fellow is a disgrace to his country.

Yes it was to Viking. her husband worked there and she was friends with Sujith Mohan who was our first ever SS butler. now General Manager for hotel services at Viking. We had dinner with her soon after her return. she came back because Viking wouldn't let her perform her show. So I think @Dolcevita Diva hit the nail on the head.

And on Silversea they seem to like inviting Australians to the hosted dinners. On the first 2 segments we had 4 hosted dinners. All of them had at least one other Australian couple and with one it was 3 Australian couples. On 2 of those dinners plus once on the Captain's table on the Moon earlier this year were the same Australian couple. thankfully we got on rather well.

The sunset the second night looked like it was going to be good but storm clouds intervened. That night it was back to Kaiseki. I feel fine paying a premium for Kaiseki on the Muse as it is a Teppan meal. with lobster, fish and waygu steak that would be expensive on land. however it doesn't come with the theatrics. The food however is excellent. yore served some edamame first. fortunately Rojaan left a few for me to photograph. Next comes the appetiser. You can choose between meat, fish and vegetarian options. each option comes as 3 dishes. A seaweed salad and with the fish seared tuna and snow crab salad. with the vegetables tofu and a vegetable gyoza. The main courses being cooked. and served. The lobster was very nice but the miso glazed fish was excellent. The waygu was quite thin but not overcooked. Then some fried rice. And finally tempura ice cream. You can have matcha ice cream instead but neither of us likes the green tea flavour. An enjoyable meal with the ever smiling Roberto.

Dinner in Atlantide. Rojaan had the teriyaki glazed chicken thigh then her usual lamb chops. I had the steak tartare, pumpkin soup and the chateaubriand. it was excellent. Lunch the next day was at Kaiseki. Note a different sake. My usual drop had run out.

A lovely sunset from our balcony. It was the Captain's Welcome party tonight. The silver muse trio who were aboard our Moon cruise earlier in the year performed. We like their music. Senior officers. And Captain Giovanni Schiaffino on his third day as Master of a Silversea ship. He is a breathe of fresh air. Down to earth. Talks to crew and passengers. turns up at activities such as trivia. To cap it off one morning i was up at 0630 so did a few laps on deck 11 whilst it was cool. The crew had just started to put out the sun lounges. The Captain appeared and talked to them as well as helping by putting out the little side tables. By the end of the cruise it was obvious the crew thought of him highly. He comes from a little village near Portofino. His father was a ship's Captain.

.The last of Singapore's lights. Now the start of 2 sea days. Taken up by my walking the inside track and in the afternoon trivia and golf. Went very well at trivia with honors shared with another team. However my putting disintegrated and my luck failed me for the first 10 days. In the last 4 my luck changed and several holes in one even though they were no better than the shots of the first 10 days. The highlights of course were meals.First lunc h at Atlantide, Rojaan began with the prawn cocktail which was excellent. I had the smoked trout salad which was very good, Rojaan had the bow tie pasta and I the maple glazed chicken thigh. we both enjoyed our meal. And we both had cheese cake for dessert.

The pilot gets picked up.